Tuesday, April 28, 2015

It seems like the dental practice is busier than ever these
days and one of the biggest challenges for the front office is making sure the patient’s
insurance is updated and accurate before he or she is seated in the treatment
room. Another benefit many dental practices are starting to promote is
in-office membership plans where they might offer a reduced fee structure.

What I see happening is the treatment plan will be entered
in the clinical room during the exam, then the patient will be handed off to
the front office team member to review the treatment plan estimate and make
financial arrangements. It is at this point when patients might reveal that
they have new insurance, no insurance at all, or they join the office’s membership
plan. All of these situations would require an update in the patient’s fees
being changed.

You do not need to delete and re-enter the treatment plan.

You can update the patient’s treatment plan fees at any
time. First, update the patient’s Family File with the updated information. Next,
open the Treatment Planner module from the Appointment Book or the Patient
Chart. Click on the icon “Update Tx Plan Fees,” make sure the dropdown menu

at
the top is for Current Patient and click on update. This will update the
patient’s entire treatment plan without having to delete and re-enter all the
procedures. This keeps the original treatment planned dates the same but makes
a note in the Case History when the fees were updated.

This feature can also be helpful if you have a patient who
hasn’t been in for a while and your office has updated its fees. Keeping your
patient’s treatment plan fees up to date and accurate helps make sure you are
proposing the correct fees to your patient and generating the revenue based on
today’s fee schedule.

Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Dayna loves her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the dental industry, and she’s passionate about building efficient, consistent, and secure practice management systems. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software—the better you learn to use it, the more productive and stress-free your office will be. In 2016, Dayna founded Novonee ™, The Premier Dentrix Community, to help cultivate Dentrix super-users all over the country. Learn more from Dayna at www.novonee.com and contact Dayna at dayna@novonee.com.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Since I wrote the blog on March 23, I have been receiving a
lot of questions about integrating electronic signature devices, how they work
in Dentrix, and which one I recommend. The good news is that I can answer all
these questions and I am excited that the shift toward going paperless is
growing.

Electronic signature pads can work in several places inside
of the Dentrix software from patient forms to clinical notes.

Questionnaire
Module – If you are looking to be completely paperless, then this module is
where all your patient forms (such as new patient forms, consent forms,
financial arrangement forms, and HIPAA consent) will be located. You can
capture up to three signatures (patient, provider, and witness) on a form.

Clinical
Notes – After the doctor or clinical team member has finished writing his
or her clinical note for the patient, he or she can sign and lock up the note
for security purposes.

Document
Center – If you scan, import, or send a letter to the Dentrix Document
Center, you can lock up this document using an electronic signature to prevent
any accidental deletion.

Treatment
Plan consent forms – There is a consent forms section where you can
customize your own consent forms for treatment. When you sign a consent form
here, it will be attached to a specific case and will copy to the Document
Center.

Microsoft
Word – If you are using Quick Letters or Letter Merge, you can use an
electronic signature device inside of MS Word as well.

I recommend using the ePad II signature device. They are
super easy to use and they integrate beautifully with the Dentrix software. You
can purchase the ePad II directly from Dentrix by calling the regular support
number (800-336-8749) and being directed to sales. I have checked the pricing
online and going through Dentrix is less expensive.

Once you have received your new ePads, you can install them
very easily by following the instructions in the box. Plug them into the USB
port and inside your Dentrix software click on the ePad II in the list. You can
find this list by opening up the Questionnaire Module, click Edit, Questionnaire
Setup and in the upper right corner drop down menu, select your signature
device.

Since the ePad II signature device is a USB connection, it
is easily moved from one computer workstation to another just like a sensor or
IO camera. My recommendation would be to install one ePad for every four treatment
rooms and then one for each front office workstation that patients are in
contact with.

Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Dayna loves her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the dental industry, and she’s passionate about building efficient, consistent, and secure practice management systems. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software—the better you learn to use it, the more productive and stress-free your office will be. In 2016, Dayna founded Novonee ™, The Premier Dentrix Community, to help cultivate Dentrix super-users all over the country. Learn more from Dayna at www.novonee.com and contact Dayna at dayna@novonee.com.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

I had the pleasure of talking with Brad Royer, the Dentrix product manager, about the release of Dentrix G6. The launch date is scheduled on April 30, 2015 during the California Dental Association meeting. Stop by the Dentrix booth during CDA to see all of the amazing features but you can watch our interview now to hear about the highlights.

Dentrix
G6 demonstrates our commitment to listen to our customers. We have been
gathering customer feedback via our online suggestion box, social medial polls,
and industry conferences. One of the messages we have heard is that you are
looking for easier upgrades and thoroughly tested software. We believe that
Dentrix G6 addresses this request.

We
are also committed to providing new and improved features and functionality to
our Dentrix customers on a consistent basis. With Dentrix G6, we are pleased to
offer customers exceptional new tools, features, and functionality. Brad Royer, Dentrix Product Manager

Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Dayna loves her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the dental industry, and she’s passionate about building efficient, consistent, and secure practice management systems. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software—the better you learn to use it, the more productive and stress-free your office will be. In 2016, Dayna founded Novonee ™, The Premier Dentrix Community, to help cultivate Dentrix super-users all over the country. Learn more from Dayna at www.novonee.com and contact Dayna at dayna@novonee.com.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Have you had a patient in your chair for his or her 6-month
checkup and, while you are perio charting, you notice that the wrong tooth is
missing. After further investigation, you realize that the patient was in for
an extraction three months ago, but the wrong tooth was set complete. You don’t
know what to do, but the tooth chart needs to be fixed.

This happens more than you think. Sometimes the mistake is
caught before month end is run and the procedures are locked up in history so
it can be fixed with just a change of the tooth number. But what do you do when
the procedure has been posted, sent to the insurance company, paid, and put in
history? Do you leave it? No, that is not the right answer. You must correct it
and, if the patient has insurance, you should correct it with the insurance
carrier as well.

The correct way to fix this situation after the procedure is
to invalidate the procedure in history, post the correct procedure and tooth
number, and then adjust the ledger as necessary. There are two steps here . . .
invalidate and the adjustment. When you invalidate a procedure, it only takes
the procedure off the tooth chart. It does not change the ledger. You can
invalidate the procedure from the patient chart or the ledger. From the ledger,
double click on the procedure and click on the Invalidate Procedure in the
upper left corner of the edit procedure window. From the patient chart, you can
highlight the procedure, right click and select invalidate, or highlight the
procedure and click on the invalidate icon on the toolbar.

After you have invalidated the procedure, then you can repost
it on the ledger and make an adjustment to correct the patient balance. You
will also need to fix the history with the patient’s insurance company … but
this can be challenging. More than likely, you will need to send in clinical
notes to prove the mistake and even send in X-rays.

In the end, having an accurate clinical record for your
patient is the recommended option. Your patients’ clinical histories will
follow them when they move or change insurance companies so it is best to keep
their records as accurate as possible.

Dayna Johnson, Certified Dentrix Trainer

Dayna loves her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the dental industry, and she’s passionate about building efficient, consistent, and secure practice management systems. Dayna knows that your entire day revolves around your practice management software—the better you learn to use it, the more productive and stress-free your office will be. In 2016, Dayna founded Novonee ™, The Premier Dentrix Community, to help cultivate Dentrix super-users all over the country. Learn more from Dayna at www.novonee.com and contact Dayna at dayna@novonee.com.